Charlatan

VARIETY.com (it's a subscription site so I can't give you the link)

'9/11': Moore the merrier
LG, U chasing DVD rights as feevee goes to Showtime

By DANA HARRIS, DAVID ROONEY


This article was updated at 10:00 p.m.
Michael MooreMichael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" has landed a U.S. distribution deal in time to spark plenty of July 4 and pre-election fireworks.

Palme d'Or winner will be released June 25 on close to 1,000 U.S. screens, through a joint venture of Lions GateLions Gate Films, IFC Films and Harvey and Bob WeinsteinBob Weinstein's Fellowship Adventure Group.

The Weinsteins created the Fellowship shingleshingle to handle the release of the controversial film, which the Miramax principals bought back from their corporate parent, the Walt Disney Co.

Pay TV rights will go through Showtime, Lions Gate's pay TV partner.

Although IFC Films has a sister outlet in cablercabler Independent Film Channel, basic cable rights are not part of the IFC distribution deal.

DVD rights are being hammered out separately. While Lions Gate is eager to make that deal, Universal Studios Home Video is another strong contender.

Similarly, Canadian distribution is still on the table, with Lions Gate and Alliance Atlantis as the primary bidders.

A Miramax reprep confirmed the Weinsteins sent a letter to all members of the Miramax marketing staff stating that no one on the Miramax payroll should be involved with the marketing and release of "Fahrenheit 9/11."

Fellowship will finance and control distribution and marketing. The Weinsteins have appointed creative advertising and marketing consultant Matthew Cohen as marketing director for this company to create and oversee all marketing materials.

Ken Sunshine ConsultantsKen Sunshine Consultants has been hired to handle PR and will work closely with the Weinsteins and the coalition on the film's release.

"With Frodo (Harvey) and Sam (Bob) now in charge of the Fellowship, I welcome the addition of Lions Gate and IFC to our quest in bringing good family entertainment to the viewing public," Moore said. "(Lions Gate CEO) Jon Feltheimer produced my series 'TV Nation' and IFC produced my series 'The Awful Truth.' Not only am I in good hands, I am grateful to them now that everyone who wants to see it will now have the chance to do so."

"This is a true coalition," the Weinsteins said in a statement. "The passion that Lions Gate, IFC Films and Showtime have demonstrated reflects our desire to enable Michael Moore's extraordinary work to be viewed by as many filmgoers as possible as soon as possible."

Lions Gate and IFC are both expected to bankroll the film's P&AP&A spend.

In what may be the shortest time ever between acquisition and release, the distribs have just 24 days to get "Fahrenheit" into theaters, an incredibly short amount of time in which to secure screens, cut trailers and plan ad buys.

Within minutes of announcing the deal, Lions Gate was already holding meetings on what kind of television ads would need to be bought. Meetings with Moore were skedded for today in Gotham to figure out what marketing materials already existed, if any.

Cause will be helped by huge publicity generated by the pic. Even before Tuesday's deal, many exhibs, eager to book "Fahrenheit," had already begun discussions with distribs that were seeking to land the docdoc, including Lions Gate and IFC.

While a Fellowship rep would not comment on the rationale behind the Lions Gate-IFC partnership, there may be several reasons for creating the alliance.

While both are indie distribs, the companies have different strengths. Lions Gate has experience in handling wide releases like "The Punisher," while IFC has a track record in word of mouth marketing on pics like "Touching the Void""Touching The Void" and "Y tu mama tambien."

And while Lions Gate is the more powerful distribdistrib, IFC parent Cablevision wields its own power with 3 million subscribers in the New York area. Cablevision is owned by the Dolan family, which also owns the New York Knicks, Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall.

Finally, Lions Gate and IFC may only be the linchpins in what the Weinsteins have termed "an alliance with several key industry players." In the announcement made Tuesday afternoon, the Fellowship said, "It is anticipated that other names will shortly be added to the coalition as partnerships on other distribution avenues are announced."

Of the coalition, Lions Gate Films Releasing prexyprexy Tom Ortenberg said, "It's about supporting free speech through the release of this film."

Said Feltheimer, "Lions Gate is a natural home for 'Fahrenheit 9/11.' Michael along with Harvey and Bob Weinstein have invested tremendous passion in this powerful and riveting film, and we are confident that we can match their passion and ingenuity in distributing it to a national audience."

"From our experience, just having been in Cannes and talking with exhibitors, they all said they would find room for the movie," IFC Entertainment president Jonathan SehringJonathan Sehring told Daily Variety. "It's a tough time to get screens, but working together with Lions Gate we think we'll be able to deliver."

The Weinsteins will continue to use the Wild Bunch, the Paris-based sales agent, for negotiating international distribution arrangements. Wild Bunch has already put several such distrib deals in place.

(Gabriel Snyder contributed to this report.)

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So it looks like it will get released in time for July 4th...

Interestingly Lions Gate is a Canadian company, though I wouldn't read too much into that.

Cynthetiq

surprise!

Nice to see that Lyons Gate was a good prediction for this movie to be distributed here in the US, as they've taken all of the Miramax distributions when Disney has issues.

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Charlatan

It did look like ThinkFilm might get the rights there for a while but my money was on Lion's Gate... (ThinkFilm is a Canadian company as well).

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k1ng

Lion's Gate releases some great movies. I'm very fond of type of movies they usually release. I'm definately going to see this movie.

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Arroe

I personally think Michael Moore is an idiot and I don't see how this film will be anything but disrespectful and nothing more than another stupid conspiracy.

What is up with Michael Moore making films about tragic events? He's profiting from deaths... how is that ok?

Charlatan

These are tragic events that have left great impressions on many poeple... are you saying that they are not legitimate topics for a documentary filmmaker?

So anyone making a film about Columbine, 9/11, Krakatoa, WWII, Suicide Bombers, etc. should not because they might feature people who died?

Or is your issue with the fact that people paid money to see his films? Would it matter if someone else made the film and made money?

Halx

Great. I look forward to not seeing it.

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Cynthetiq

I would love for it to be a REAL documentary based on facts instead of hyperbole, grand standing, and propaganda

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matteo101

You get into a room with Michael Moore and start argue with him about politics, current events etc I guarntee he will rip you to shreds. I will be seeing this.

Cynthetiq

sorry after watching Bowling for Columbine I had to stop and pause and do fact checking and lots of his facts are NOT correct. Roger & Me was ground breaking for it's time. I was too young and impressionable to double check his facts. BFC I was able to pick them apart rather easily.

His words were compelling and thought provoking, but more inflammatory than documentary.

people see what they want to see.

The.Lunatic

Heh, Moore is a genious

Oh and communism is the best idea ever.

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Hrothgar

I'm definitely watching this one. On DVD though.

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analog

I like how no one has seen the movie and already bullshit is being tossed around about it.

I'm sure he'll be up to whatever usual tricks he uses, but there's a lot of grandstanding going on in HERE already, and no one has even seen it yet.

Whether or not this "documentary" is dead-on-balls-accurate, if you do not learn from history, you are doomed to repeat it. Tell any family member of a Jewish person lost to the Nazis that it is not worth documenting what happened. Tell that to a black person about the life of Dr M. L. King, or the family member of a person lost in the pearl harbor attack. How about anyone who remembers what Hiroshima used to look like- you know, before we bombed it.

It is very important that we record, to the greatest detail possible, the horrors associated with hatred, violence, racism, inequality of civil rights, genocide, murder, rape, bombings, etc., etc., etc.

Only by showing the outcomes of such things can we truly learn- and move forward, enlightened.

Whether or not we use that information to educate ourselves or just ignore it and move on with our lives is our own damn fault.

Esco

Regardless of he's full of shit or not, he get's people talking about important issues ... which in itself is a good thing.

Yes, he's an asshole. Doesn't mean he's wrong though.

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Arroe

I'm not saying a documentary on 9/11 is wrong, I'm saying what he is doing is wrong. He's trying to say Bush is responsible for what happened, that because Bush is friends with the Bin Ladin family (there are more besides Osama that aren't bad, and that don't support Osama and think he's a physco, and I guess it's a big deal that Bush is friends with them), that he had something to do with it. That's like making a movie about the holocaust and saying that Jewish officials were friends with relatives of Hitler when the holocaust began, and then pointing the finger at the Jews saying that they had something to do with it. Rediculous.

Michael Moore is making this movie NOT in memory of 9/11, but as a political statement. That's why Disney decided to not produce this movie because they didn't want to release it before the elections. So yes, he's taking advantage of the people who died on 9/11 for a "documentary" that's completely politically based.

Arroe

Ok, Michael Moore is also probably 2 decades older than me. I'm going into my Senior year of high school but I am very interested in politics and plan on studying politics in Washington starting fall of 2005. I read about politics and history for hours, and volunteer for the Bush campaign; besides the guitar, politics are my passion. Give me a few more years and let me get through college then I'll go up against Michael and we'll see who's boss.

sprocket

Duh. Michael Moore is making a movie to profess his agenda. Nothing wrong with that at all. I dont think anyone really beleives this documentary is not going to be bias weather you like Michael Moore or not. Thats kinda the point of his documentaries.. to document his bias.

After watching the trailer, and seeing the clips where he goes around trying to get congressman to enlist their children to go fight in Iraq, it seems like this movie is going to be a more intelligent form of MTV's Jackass. Stupid stunts aimed at the suits in politics. A lot of shock value, but any substance? That remains to be seen.

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ChrisJericho

I will probably bit torrent this, I don't think I would pay to see it. However it should be interesting.

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Charlatan

I see no problem with Michael Moore making a film on this topic for these reasons. If you don't like his point of view make a film, write a paper, bitch to your friends, whatever.

His point is to make a political point. He isn't making a memorial to the poeple that died, in his point of view he is trying to correct something in the political system that he sees is wrong and needs correcting. He is shining a light in the dark corners and asking the questions he feels aren't getting asked.

In the end whether you agree with him or not, the man is getting out there and trying to make a difference.

johnnymysto

I don't understand why he gets so much attention. I bet if someone made a "documentary" about some event during Clinton's administration and put a severely conservative spin on it, nobody would ever hype it or talk about it.

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assilem

You are right. You are right because no matter what anyone says there IS a liberal bias in the media. There is a republican in office who is an evil racist war-monger and the media will do anything to hype up MM and his "documentary" just to help discredit the pres. Every little bit counts don't you know.

Why is this not in the politics forum?

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The_wall

Oh really, when the the whole Monica fiasco happend the media didn't do much coverage of that did they? The fact is, the worste thing you guys can come up with about Clinton is he lied under oath about getting a bj. GWB on the other hand, has lots of bad things you can talk about.

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Cynthetiq

the point of this thread is Micheal Moore, not GWB and not Clinton, there are plenty of threads to cover that material if you wish to continue that discourse.

While there is liberal bias within the media, please keep with the topic at hand.

The_wall

Well then don't incite me to go off topic by stating that theres a liberal bias in the media as if its a fact.

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Charlatan

I have received word from a friend that saw the screening in Cannes that the film starts off with a section about 9/11. While there is sound, the screen is black.

Sounds exploitational of the dead to me.

My point is that there should be no discussion of the contents of a film that you haven't seen, especially when it is as contentious as this one will be...

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